1. Field of the Invention
A system for presenting and defining an array of characters which effectively serves as a man-machine interfacing system and language capable of processing both alpha and numerical characters utilizing the subject coding system as a substitute for conventional language characters such as the English alphabet or Arabic numerals wherein each of the characters of the subject encoding system are defined as part of a logical progression of characters based on adding certain elements termed constructs to a base or trunk element which is common to each of the characters in the subject system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The ability to obtain functionally perfect, complete, current or real time information about a variety of subjects or informational categories at an economically justifiable cost has yet to be realized. Because of the sheer size of the volume of transactions which would need to be personally classified, it is physically and economically impossible to manually construct a totally integrated profile of each category of one such area, such as the financial-services marketplace. In a commercial application each United States bank client, or each personal computer owner, etc. would be an example. Electronic systems presently available have as yet proven unable to perform the one function which would make possible the widespread composition of source generated individual personal-characteristic profiles at an economically justifiable cost. This one function is to read hand-written numerals or alphabetic characters with a degree of accuracy sufficient to allow for their use in business, educational, governmental, or like applications.
In prior art as well as commercially known systems, all efforts are presently directed to the design and manufacture of a cybernetic (computer based) system optically catalyzed to emulate human judgmental decisions in indentifying random pattern variations in humanly created written representations such as handwritten or hand-printed numerals or alphabetic characters. While such a goal may eventually be realized, all current indications, at least to the point of allowing for most commercial applications, indicate that the development of this type of "artificial intelligence" or so-called "fifth generation computers" is approximately 20 years away.
In the meantime, the relative importance of fulfilling day-to-day needs is increasing dramatically as the introduction of high technology to business techniques has drastically altered the competitive environment.
Further, it is now possible and in some areas even commonplace for a small firm, with a greater informational base and system to out-perform larger entities of the industry in the delivery of a better "package" of values at a reduced cost. The economics of scale are being overcome by the economics of information management and the centralization of information is now more essential to business success than the centralization of capital.
Accordingly, there is a need in all areas of modern society for a graphic system of representation for conventional phonetic values (sounds and phonemes), such as those which compose the English alphabet, into a character array which may be expressed in written or printed form by the human hand or conventionally by machines (word processors) wherein the subject system and the array of characters are representative of numerical and alphabetical values which are fully and directly usable and processable by both human beings and machines such as optical scanners. An important feature of such a system would be a logical derivation of the successive characters from a first or preceding character, based on the progressive placement of specific elements, herein termed constructs, from which each of the system characters are formed, relative to one another.
The logical and derivative defining of the successive characters of the subject encoding system would render the system easier to learn and much easier to utilize. This is even more apparent when considering the human language in its alphabetic form as well as the ten basic Arabic numerals. With the exception of the numeral 1, the appearance of none of the following numerals 2 through 0 provides any kind of indication as to their value or as to the nature of their relationship to one another. Similarly, the various letters of the English alphabet are, when considered relative to one another, a random display of linear and curvilinear lines and dots.
Preliminary limited experimentation has shown that a system comprising characters derived from a logical progression of inter-related constructs, instead of an absolute random display of characters, as in the case of both Arabic numerals and the modern English language, reduce the time and effort required to master the ability to use the alphanumeric representations of the subject system by as much as 50% to 70%.
In addition, an important feature of the subject encoding system which, in the scope of the present invention may be considered an optico-visual graphic system of alphanumeric and other representation, is the inherent, logical and progressive representation of the successive characters of the system being subject to 100% error-free interfacing with machine systems for purposes of conveyance of exact numerical, alphabetical and other meanings by people (human-systems) to such machine systems. The subject system not only has great adaptability and therefore potential economic value to the business world but also to educational programs in poverty stricken geographical areas.
Based on the above, it is readily apparent that the incorporation of the subject encoding system or graphic alphanumeric system into the various areas of modern-day society makes possible for the first time the error-proof recognition by machines (optical scanners) of handwritten and type-written alphanumeric and other values, and the instantaneous processing of the information thus conveyed. It also allows for the extremely economic generation of informational resources in a scope never before possible.
Attempts to accomplish the result obtained through the use of optico-visual graphic systems of alphanumeric representation of the type herein described are represented in the following U.S. Pats. Nos. to: Suzuki, 4,504,969; Bilzem, 4,461,029; Yasuda, 4,232,290; Hilley, 4,075,605; Schlang, 3,868,636; Spandersberg 3,858,180; Demonte, 3,860,909; Patterson, 3,766,520; Vanbilzem, 3,999,161; Morton 4,115,805; Buerger, 4,192,004; Nadler, 4,163,213; Frank, 4,189,711; Whittaker, 4,157,471; Morita, 4,193,056; Brayton, 4,177,448; Beall, 4,490,848; Schlang, 3,784,982; Schlang, 3,772,648; Rayfield, 3,731,276; Johnson et al, 3,631,394; Busby, 3,833,882; Destame, 3,938,186; Riley, 3,757,300; Postal, 3,786,237; Leighton, 3,699,518; Acker, 3,800,282; Greanias, 4,365,235; Casey, 4,499,596; Faby, 4,110,737; Clark, 3,938,088; Giuliano, 4,047,152; Rosedorff, 3,845,279; Sammon, 3,755,780; Dilingham, 3,903,503; Chou, 4,173,753; Grabowski, 4,468,809; and Funato, 4,505,537.
Based on the attempts in the prior art as evidenced at least in part by the above noted patents, there is still a need in the communication industry for a simple easy-to-handwrite alphanumerical text-representation system which is as easy to utilize by human beings as it is to process on an error-proof basis, by modern-day machine systems. A preferred system constitutes a man-machine interface "language" which provides a handwritten or machine printed array of characters to a processing machine system, such as an optical character scanner, for complete machine recognition and processing thereof.